Playing With Shaving Cream (Ziggy, Dave, and Echo) Possibly 1989 - 1994

Jim Goldberg made this image, Playing With Shaving Cream, sometime in the late twentieth century. Look at these figures, their bodies are so close. You can almost feel the intimacy of the moment. I wonder, was Goldberg trying to capture a specific emotion, or was he simply documenting a scene he encountered? As a painter, I often find myself toggling between these two impulses: the desire to express something deeply personal, and the urge to simply observe and record the world around me. The composition reminds me a bit of Nan Goldin's work. Both artists have a knack for capturing raw, unvarnished moments of human connection. But where Goldin's photos often feel staged or performative, Goldberg's have a more documentary feel. It's like he's just stumbled upon this scene and snapped a photo before anyone could pose or prepare. Ultimately, it’s this mix of intention and accident that makes the photograph so compelling. We see the mess, the closeness, the quiet, and are invited to bring our own stories and associations to the work. Artists are always working in conversation with one another, aren’t they?